To the point
Here is my review of the Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, owned by Marriott Bonvoy, following a family stay.
Staying on the South Shore of Montreal
The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard opened its doors and its 184 rooms in June 2020. This new addition to the Marriott International chain in Quebec, in category 3, is located at the intersection of Highways 10 and 30 in Brossard.
If you want to use your points to stay there, it will cost you between 15,000 and 20,000 points per night. Or you can pay for your stay with one of the Marriott Bonvoy credit cards to earn 5 points per dollar.
In order to stay in our zone during this pandemic era, and to get away from it all, we decided at the last minute to go and discover this hotel.
And at the same time, we took advantage of the Marriott Bonvoy promotion to double our points and double our elite nights!
Located in the heart of the new Solar Uniquartier development, the hotel is next to a multitude of offices, restaurants, residences, future parks and the future Brossard REM station.
In the meantime, everything around the Courtyard is under construction. The place had a sense of déjà vu – like being at the Centropolis in Laval.
When we arrived in the neighbourhood, signs clearly indicated where to find the parking of the Courtyard. Right now, it costs nothing and offers a series of 10 free EV Duty Level 2 charging stations for electric vehicles.
You can enter the hotel from the garage, which is convenient if the weather is bad. Despite the construction, you can still access the hotel from the street.
The ground floor is very large. The lobby is there, but you can also find:
- a small Starbucks kiosk (open only in the morning)
- a Marketplace, for snacks
- alcoves with television for more privacy
- an office with computers
- several chairs
Everything is modern, inviting and very clean.
For this weekend getaway, the most important thing was to have a pool for the kids to play around, as well as free parking. In fact, this is what milesopedia community members are often looking for!
If the hotel had an electric charging station for our vehicle, that was another advantage. The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard ticked all the boxes.
Checking in
Check-in was quick and efficient. As a Platinum Elite member, I was able to get an upgrade to an Executive room on the 10th and top floor. The suites were all taken, however.
It was explained to me that with the restaurants closed due to health restrictions, guests preferred the larger rooms so they could have a separate room to eat in.
I paid for this stay with my Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card to earn 5 points per dollar – and be sure to qualify for the current promotion!
A restaurant was supposed to open on the ground floor, but with the uncertainty of the virus worldwide, the developer put the project on hold.
Between 2 construction tarps that hid the window of the future restaurant, we could see that there was no construction activity and that the site was empty. So, in the short term, we should not count on a restaurant service at this location.
With very limited to no restaurant options in the area at the moment, the only option is food delivery, or driving less than 5 minutes to the Quartier Dix30 next door for a take-out order. We of course remembered to use our American Express Cobalt™ Card to earn 5 points per dollar!
Some restaurants near this Courtyard are about to open (according to the real estate project map) but who knows when that will be.
As a Platinum Elite member, I received 2 bottles of water and had the choice of 500 Marriott Bonvoy points or $10 worth of purchases per day at the Market, which is in line with the benefits in all other Courtyard locations in the chain.
Since we already were in the lobby, we booked the time slots for our future swims at the hotel pool, for the 2 days of our stay.
The room
Our room consisted of a king bed and a sofa bed.
The room is called Executive but it is the same size as a regular room. The difference is that it is located on the top floor. It has all the features of the other Courtyard rooms in the chain, with the same wallpaper. It’s peaceful and you don’t feel out of place.
There are multiple electrical and USB outlets in the room. The flat screen TV offers to log into your Netflix account and there is a desk if you need to work on it.
I did not use the coffee maker or the small refrigerator but they were impeccably clean.
The wardrobe is small but useful. Everything you need to make up the sofa bed is there.
The bathroom is spacious and features Paul Mitchell toiletries.
As for the view, we have seen prettier than that!
On the other side of the building, the rooms have a view of highways 10 and 30. Nothing exciting but the soundproofing is very good. During the weekend of our stay, the construction site was silent. During the week, construction noise should be expected.
On our floor was also the usual ice machine and a laundry room.
Fitness room, swimming pool and conference rooms
The training room is open from 08:00 to 21:15 because of the curfew. It is located next to the swimming pool. There are:
- weights
- yoga balls
- a weight bench
- cardio machines
- elliptical machines
Next, the pièce de résistance for my kids… the pool! Yay!
You have to book a time slot (45 minutes per day) at the reception first, show up at the agreed time and take the access card at the reception to open the pool door.
There is a limit of 15 people at any one time, in the entire compound. On our first swim, we were alone and the lady at the front desk suggested we take our time as there were no bookings after us.
The next day, we were at the same time as another family. We had enough space to respect the regulatory distances.
Also, there is a huge mirror on the ceiling and the same white flying bird sculptures as in the reception area. The water in the pool was 83 degrees Fahrenheit and the air was warm, to avoid thermal shock on the way out. It was very pleasant.
On the second floor are meeting and reception rooms, with a bar counter and open areas perfect for future post-conference cocktails.
Bottom Line
The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard has excellent potential once the construction of this area is completed. Everything will be designed with pedestrians and bicycles in mind, with a pedestrian bridge over Highway 10, shops, offices, residences for all ages, restaurants and access to downtown Montreal in 16 minutes with the future REM station.
For the moment, the atmosphere is gloomy and you have to leave the place to get services. But the hotel is super new and the customer service is good.
Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!
